Monday 10th June – Prutz, Austria

 

When we chose Camping Sole Neve, we also considered a number of other sites from the ASCI book that were clustered around Lake Caldonazzo and our route. The sun was shining and it was a lovely drive down with extensive views over the lake and the Adige Valley. Caldonazzo and its lake looked really nice and we both thought that a longer stay there would be good at some time in the future.
We drove up the very wide Adige valley and were soon surrounded by the many vineyards of the Trentino Alto Adige that produce many white and red wines. Fruit trees were also in abundance and stalls beside the road sold a wide selection of fruit.
We followed the River Adige until we reached Burgusio (Burgeis) where on our way down we had seen two places of interest – The Monastery of Santa Maria and The Castle of Principe Fürstenburg. The latter is only open for an hour and a half on Mondays and Thursdays and we would have struggled to get there in time, so we decided to just visit the monastery. It is a Benedictine monastery that is still in use but part of it is open to the public, including a museum. We saw two carriages owned by former abbots and visited the impressive church before paying to go into the museum. Some of the exhibits had short explanations in English but most of the information was in Italian and German, the two languages of this area of Italy. This wasn’t a problem as we had been issued with audio guides that were simple to use and the audio was informative and very well read. I am always a little dubious about museums in ecclesiastical buildings as they often consist of robes and precious religious objects and very little else. Yes, this museum did have some of that but there were lots of other objects and good information about the history of the abbey and the Benedictines.
We drove on past two lakes and the source of the River Adige that runs for 415 km before flowing into the Adriatic. The Austrian border came soon after that at the Resia (Reschen) Pass and we were soon following the River Inn that flows north from the pass.
We arrived at Activ-Camping Prutz in the town of Prutz, where we stayed last year, and booked in for a night.
Photos: Lake Caldonazzo; We passed lots of cliffs like this on either side of the Adige valley; Looking up at the Convent of Santa Maria with the Castle of Principe Fürstenburg in the foreground; One small part of the view from the monastery with one of the monks working in the vegetable garden; One of the 12^th century brass knockers from the monastery church doors.